Growing Pains
Growing Pains is the first episode of the Fourth Season and the sixty-seventh episode in the series. Summary thumb|300px|right|Growing Pains Promo ELENA’S WORST NIGHTMARE — Elena awakens on the morning after the accident to find the thing she dreaded most has come true – she died with vampire blood in her system and now must go through the terrible transition to become a vampire, or face certain death. Stefan promises Elena that he and Bonnie will exhaust every possible way out of the situation, but Damon is furious with his brother for letting Elena die in the first place. Bonnie pays a terrible price for her attempt to change Elena’s fate, while Damon takes out his frustration and rage on Matt. In a rare moment of empathy, Rebekah is deeply touched by Stefan and Elena’s devotion to one another. Finally, Pastor Young and the Town Councilmembers begin rounding up the vampires and their supporters, leading to an unexpected tragedy. In the end Elena completes the transition. Plot Cast Main Cast * Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert * Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore * Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore * Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert * Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes * Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan * Katerina Graham as Bonnie Bennett * Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood/Klaus * Joseph Morgan as Klaus Recurring Cast * Torrey DeVitto as Meredith Fell * Claire Holt as Rebekah Mikaelson * Marguerite MacIntyre as Elizabeth Forbes Special Guest Star * Jasmine Guy as Sheila Bennett Guest Cast * Michael Reilly Burke as Pastor Young * Lex Shontz as Deputy Adams Co-Starring * Susan Walters as Carol Lockwood * Neko Parham as Town Council member Soundtrack Trivia * Antagonist: Pastor Young and Sheriff's Deputies. *It is revealed that Meredith Fell used Damon's blood to heal Elena. *The Founder's Council now it is called the Town Council after of the Alaric's revelation. **The Founder's Council is called that way, because they were the first families who founded Mystic Falls, however, after discovering the dark truth of the families: Lockwood, Forbes, Fell, Gilbert, Salvatore, they were expelled, leaving residents with only knowledge of the supernatural. *Those blood bags Rebekah destroyed were the last of Klaus's supply for making his hybrids. http://tvline.com/2012/10/11/vampire-diaries-season-4-premiere-post-mortem-julie-plec/ *The sandwich tasted awful to Elena as a side effect of her transition. https://twitter.com/julieplec/status/256794534246244353 *Bonnie didn't lose her powers, however, every time she does dark magic, she'll see Grams in pain. https://twitter.com/julieplec/status/256799482962911232 Cultural References *"Death Becomes Her" is a 1992 dark comedy with Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis. It's a play in words and it can mean both "she became death" as well as "death looks good on her", (like clothing). *"Growing Pains" is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, Long Island, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992. Tropes *The quirky dialogue between Elena, Stefan with Damon snarky remarks was a very elegant Exposition that recapped the events that led to this all. Could it be that trough all his Bitter Sarcasm Damon is the Only Sane One ? *Well, this whole episode was a great Introdump , but there was lot of information to recap.... *Pastor Young is introduced very much like Remember this new Guy ? He remembers Elena wanted to be a writer, knew her parents and was part of the Council, although we had never seen him before .... *Like many times before, Bonnie suffers from Psychic Nosebleed when she overexerts herself. *Very creepy when Klaus threatens to rip the living heart out of Tyler... Behind the Scenes * This is the first season premiere to feature every main character since Pilot. * Following Matt Davis' departure from the cast in season 3, this is the first season to feature just 9 series regulars. * This is the first season premiere to feature Meredith Fell, and Rebekah, the third to feature Carol, the second to feature Klaus and Liz and the fourth to feature Elena, Stefan, Damon, Jeremy, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler and Caroline. * This is the first season premiere to not be written by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. * Before the official title was revealed (July 24) it was rumored that it was named "Phases". * This is the first season premiere to not have a "Previously On..." voice over. ;Ratings : 3.483 million (highest ratings since the first 9 episodes of season three) Continuity *Meredith, Carol, Elizabeth and Rebekah were last seen in The Departed. *Many references are made of when Elena told Stefan she did not want to be a Vampire in The Last Day. *Damon saying there is no 3rd door might be a reference to the many times, when faced with two terrible choices , Elena chose a third choice . *Elena has a very cool Pensive Flashback to when Damon made her forget that he loves her in Rose. *All of the events from The Departed are all mentioned in this episode. *Vicki Donovan was mentioned by Jeremy and Elena. She was turned and destroyed as a vampire in Season 1's Lost Girls ''and ''Haunted, but she came back as a ghost in Season 2's As I Lay Dying. She was last seen in Smells Like Teen Spirit. *Jeremy and Elena both mentioning Bonnie's part in bringing him back to life and the "consequences." It became an recurring theme from Season 3. *On the other hand NOBODY mentioned that Bonnie already knew a spell to prevent Elena from turning into a vampire... In The Sun Also Rises Damon fed Elena his blood so that she would not die in Klaus' sacrifice, and John Gilbert gave up his life to keep Elena human. *Alaric Saltzman was mentioned by Klaus, Pastor Young, Caroline and Elizabeth. He was last seen in The Departed. *Shelia Bennett was last seen in Ghost World. This is her second appearance as a ghost. *Finn, Elijah and Kol were mentioned by Rebekah. Finn was killed by Matt in The Murder of One. Elijah was last seen in The Departed'. '''And Kol was last seen in ''Heart of Darkness. Quotes Elena: "Am I dead? ... No!" Damon: "You feed or you die. There is no door number three." - to Elena Stefan: "You know what, you weren't there the day Elena looked me in the eye and told me she absolutely never wanted this. Damon: "Then you shouldn't have let her die. Stefan: "I never meant for her to die. She asked me to help Matt first and I did." Damon: "And now the world has one more quarterback. Bravo, brother." - to Stefan. Stefan: "I made a choice that I will regret for the rest of my life. Now let me try to fix it." Jeremy: "Your fangs coming yet?" - to Elena Rebekah:'' "Tragic about Elena. Not to make the grey cloud greyer but does Matt even have automobile insurance for the car?"'' Gallery Videos The Vampire Diaries Season 4 Comic-Con 2012 Trailer HD|Season 4 Comic-Con 2012 Trailer The Vampire Diaries - Season 4 First Look|First promo The Vampire Diaries - Alive Clip|Clip Exclusive "Vampire Diaries" Peek 10 11|Clip #2 The Vampire Diaries - Season 4 - Cold Open|Cold Open The Vampire Diaries Canadian Promo 4x01 - Growing Pains|Canadian Promo The Vampire Diaries - Season 4 - ITV2 Promo|ITV2 Promo (Fisrt Two Episodes Trailer) Pictures Elena4x01.jpg|Elena captured by Pastor Young 4.01-01.jpg|Bonnie and Jeremy GrowingPains.jpg|Klaus forces Bonnie to put him back in his body GrowingPains1.jpg GrowingPains2.jpg|Klaus still in Tyler body GrowingPains3.jpg GrowingPains4.jpg GrowingPains5.jpg GrowingPains6.jpg GrowingPains8.jpg GrowingPains7.jpg GrowingPains9.jpg GrowingPains10.jpg GrowingPains11.jpg GrowingPains12.jpg Jeremy-580x435.jpg Bonnie-2-580x435.jpg Season 4 BTS -2.jpg|Season 4 BTS Damon Season 4 BTS -3.jpg|Season 4 BTS Damon and Meredith 4x01bts.jpg|Another bts image Season 4 BTS.jpg|TVD S4 BTS Season 4 BTS -1.jpg|Season 4 BTS Table read.png|Table read proxy.jpg|BTS-Ian Sleeping ian1.jpg|Ian on set ian2.jpg|Ian on set bscap0035.jpg|Damon Salvatore bscap0042.jpg|Damon Salvatore Growingpains.jpg|On set 648042987.jpg|Magazine scan capture-20121009-111912.png|Elena - screencap vampire_diaries_bts.jpg Vlcsnap-2012-10-12-02h44m14s52.png|Vampire Elena|linktext=Vampire Elena vlcsnap-2012-10-12-02h50m49s139.png|Vampire Elena Mad s3ved.png s4Damon.png S4el.png s4ep1p1.png s4ep1p2.png s4ep1p3.png s4ep1p4.png s4ep1p5.png s4ep1p6.png s4ep1p7.png s4ep1p8.png s4ep1p9.png s4ep1p10.png s4ep1p13.png s4ep1p14.png s4ep1p15.png s4ep1p16.png s4ep1p17.png s4ep1p18.png s4ep1p19.png s4ep1p20.png Pains-000051.jpg Vlcsnap-2012-10-14-11h16m56s159.png s4ep1p21.png s4ep1p22.png s4ep1p23.png s4ep1p24.png s4ep1p25.png s4ep1p26.png s4ep1p27.png s4ep1p28.png s4ep1p29.png s4ep1p30.png s4ep1p31.png s4ep1p32.png s4ep1p33.png s4ep1p34.png s4ep1p35.png s4ep1p36.png s4ep1p37.png s4ep1p39.png s4ep1p40.png s4ep1p41.png s4ep1p42.png s4ep1p43.png s4ep1p44.png s4ep1p45.png s4ep1p46.png s4ep1p47.png s4ep1p48.png s4ep1p49.png s4ep1p50.png s4ep1p51.png s4ep1p52.png s4ep1p53.png s4ep1p54.png s4ep1p55.png s4ep1p56.png s4ep1p57.png s4ep1p58.png s4ep1p59.png s4ep1p60.png s4ep1p61.png s4ep1p62.png s4ep1p63.png s4ep1p64.png s4ep1p65.png s4ep1p66.png s4ep1p67.png s4ep1p68.png s4ep1p69.png s4ep1p70.jpg Vevain-vervain.png Vervain-pastor-barn.png Vervain-council-members.png mikaelson-mansion-outside.png hospital-inside.png tumblr_mbslv3CsB51qkfvkzo1_1280.png tumblr_mbslv3CsB51qkfvkzo2_1280.png tumblr_mbslv3CsB51qkfvkzo3_1280.png tumblr_mbslv3CsB51qkfvkzo4_1280.png tumblr_mbslv3CsB51qkfvkzo5_1280.png tumblr_mbslv3CsB51qkfvkzo6_1280.png tumblr_mbslv3CsB51qkfvkzo7_1280.png tumblr_mbslv3CsB51qkfvkzo10_1280.png See Also References ' ' Category:Vampire Diaries Episode Guide Category:Season 4 Category:Season Premieres Category:Episodes featuring all main characters Category:Featured Episodes